Pavement.



PATENTED SEPT. 12, 1905.

G. MOEBS.

PAVEMENT.

uPLIoATIoN FILED MAY 29, 1905.

INVENTOR.

GEORGE MOEBS, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

PAVEMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 12, 1905.

Application filed May 22, 1905. Serial No. 261,486.

To all whom it may concern:

Beitknown that I, GEORGE Moens, acitzen `of the United States of America, residing' at Detroit, in the county of Vayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pavements, of which the following is a specification, reference being' had therein to the accompanying' drawings.

This invention relates to an improved pavement, more especially adapted for paving between and along' the rails of a street-railway; and its object is to provide an eiiieient and durable pavement which may be quickly and easily laid without necessitating' any change in the present commonl construction of the roadbed and which may be easily taken up at any time for the purpose of repairing' the track or bed without injury to the pavement, which may be as quickly replaced after the repair is made.

A further object of the invention is to so construct the blocks forming the pavement that they will wedge together when laid and when lifted each will readily free itself from the others and to provide a pavement having the several advantages of the particular construction, arrangement, and combination of parts, all as hereinafter more fully described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a section of pavement embodying the invention; Fig. 2, a section of the same on the line :r :u of Eig'. 1, and Fig. 3 a section on the line l/ y of Fig. l.

The road-bed is formed with a concrete foundation 1, upon which the ties 2 are laid with the proper spaces between and the rails 3 spiked or otherwise secured to the ties, all as ordinarily constructed; but instead of then iilling in between the ties with concrete to form a bottoni for the pavement I prefer to leave the spaces between the ties so that said ties may be easily removed at any time without the trouble and expense of breaking away the concrete, a coating of cement et being spread over the concrete before the ties are placed to make a smooth surface and to assist in holding the ties in place.

The pavement is formed of blocks 5 of concrete or similar material, which extend longitudinally of the track and are preferably of a length to extend from the center of one tie with its middle resting upon the adjacent tie and its opposite end extending to the center of the tie next beyond, so that they may be laid to break joints. The upper surface of the pavement is level with the top of the rails, and the rows of blocks 6 lying against the inner and outer sides of said rails are formed to conform to the shape thereof and lie closely in contact with the same, thus serving to support each rail and the rail in turn serving', by reason of its undercut sides, to hold the blocks in place. The ends 7 of the blocks of each longitudinal row are inclined, said ends of one block 8 being inclined inward and upward or toward each other from the lower face of the block, the meeting of said lower face and ends forming acute angles and the meeting' of the upper Aface and ends forming' obtuse angles, and the ends of the next adjacent blocks 9 in the row being' inclined in an opposite manner outward and upward from their lower faces to tit the inclined ends of the said blocks 8 and operate as wedge members between said blocks. The sides 10 of these blocks are inclined in a manner similar to their ends, the sides of all of the blocks of one row being' inclined inward or toward each other from their lower faces and those of the adjacent rows having' sides inclined in opposite directions or outward from their lower faces, the rows of blocks having outwardly-inclined edges or sides thus operating' as wedges between the other rows. It will be seen that by forming and arranging' these paving-blocks as described certain of them, as blocks 12, (shown in Fig. 1,) will be formed with their sides and ends all outwardly and upwardly inclined, and therefore they may be readily lifted out, as they overhang all of the adjacent blocks and form wedges which taper inward and downward at both sides and ends. To furnish a place of engagement for a crowbar or other instrument by means of which these blocks may be raised, openings are formed in each block when it is made and a rod bent in the form of a staple or loop 13 is inserted iu these openings. A groove is provided in the upper surface of the block between the openings to receive the loop end 14: of the staple, and the lower ends 15 of said staple are bent at right ang'les to engage the lower surface of the block and prevent its removal from the openings, said staple being' longer than the thickness of the block, so that it will have sui'licient play therein to permit its end le being' raised above the surface of the block. If desired, a ring' 16 may be employed instead of the staple, which ring lies within a groove formed therefor in the upper surface of the block IOO the rails are held down.

when not in use and is secured to the blocl; by a staple embedded in the concrete when the block is molded.

Then the street is pave'd with cedar blocks l1, as shown, or when it is not paved. a line of curbstone 17 is preferably set at each end of the ties, with the upper edge of the same in the plane of the surface of the pavement to form the side walls of a channel within which the ties and concrete blocks are placed, the bottom of the channel being formed by the concrete l; but if the street is paved with concrete, asphalt, or similar material this curb may be omitted, the street-pavement or concrete then forming the sides of the channel.

By forming the blocks with slanting sides and ends, as described, the greater the weight which passes over them the more closely they are forced thereby into contact with each other and with the curb and rails by reason of the wedge action of the blocks l2, and by forming the blocks to t the rails and crowding them into contact therewith the rails are strengthened and supported thereby, and the blocks by projecting beneath the overhang of The wedge shape of the blocks also aids in their removal from the pavement, for as soon as one of the blocks l2 is lifted slightly it is freed from the adjacent ones, which may then be readily pried out.

The advantages of having a road-bed paved with a pavement which may be readily taken up to repair the bed or rails and again laid and of having the pavement so constructed 2. The combination with a road-bed formed of concrete, ties upon said bed with spaces between, and rails secured to the ties, of a wall extending at each end of the ties and upward to substantially the plane of the top of the rails, and paving-blocks filling the space between the rails and between the walls and rails with each block resting upon two or more of the ties and extending across the space between the same.

3. The combination with a road-bed formed of concrete, ties on said bed with spaces between and rails secured to the ties, of curbstones set at each end of the Vties and extending upward to substantially the plane of the top of the rails, paving-blocks formed at one side to conform to the shape of the sides of the rails and extending along in contact therewith, and paving-blocls supported by the ties between said rows of blocks at the inner sides of the rails and between the rows at the outer sides of the rails and the curbs.

4. rl`he combination with a road-bed, ties on said bed and rails secured to the ties, of a pavement consisting of detachable blocks each formed with sides inclined from a plane extending longitudinally of the side and upward at right angles to the lower face of the block, and arranged in rows with the blocks of the adjacent rows having their sides oppositely inclined. l

rlhe combination with a road-bed, ties on said bed and rails secured to the ties, of paving-blocks formed with sides and ends which are inclined from planes extending along their sides and ends at right angles to their upper or lower faces and so laid that the inclined side or end of one block will be engaged by the oppositely-inclined side or end of the adjacent block.

6. The combination with a road-bed, ties on said bed and Arails secured to the ties, of a pavement formed of detachable concrete blocks laid in' rows extending longitudinally of the rails and formed with sides which are inclined from planes extending along the sides and upward at right angles to the lower faces of the blocks, the sides of the blocks of one row being inclined inward or toward each other and those of the adjacent rows being inclined outward or from each other, and said blocks being formed with ends inclined from planes extending upward along their ends at right angles to their lower faces, the ends of one block being inclined inward or toward each other and the ends of the next block of the row being inclined outwardly or from each other.

7. T he combination with a roadebed formed of concrete, ties on said bed spaced apart, and A rails secured to the ties, of curbstones set at the ends of said ties and extending upward to substantially the plane of the tops of the rails, concrete blocks engaging the inner and outer sides of the rails and formed to conform to the shape of said sides, rows of blocks inter-4 p'osed between the curb and the blocks in contact with the outer sides of the rails and also between the blocks engaging the inner sides of the rails, all of said blocks having their contacting sides and ends formed at an incline to vertical planes to operate as wedge members to force the blocks in contact with each other and with the rails and curb.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE MOEBS. Vitnesses:

OTTO F. BARTHEL, THos. Gr. LoNGsTAFF.

IOO 

